


Quicksand

by sxgxls



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Crime lord Felix, Hospital nurse Chan, Hospitals, M/M, Mentions of Gun Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, Organized Crime, Sexual implications, didnt expect that did ya ooOOo, i have no idea what tense this is in, somewhat graphic depictions of injuries, stripper hyunjin YEAHHHHH
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:41:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29369430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sxgxls/pseuds/sxgxls
Summary: Chan is a new hospital nurse, eager to prove himself and do good in a world built upon cruelty and greed.Felix runs one of Seoul's biggest syndicates, with a reach so pervasive, the city looks away.Everyone needs someone, but the greater the rise, the greater the fall, and love is a luxury the most powerful cannot afford.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Felix
Comments: 38
Kudos: 61





	1. Prologue

Chan knew death. 

He knew how to administer morphine to a patient on their last gasps of air. He knew each function and every score on the Glasgow Coma Scale. He knew when attempting resuscitation was pointless. Chan could tell you everything in his textbooks about death- clinical, biological, brain. What his textbooks never taught him was the hollowness in a mother’s eyes as she watches her child fade out, their grasp on her hand weakening. The palpable terror and tension in the room against the calm, closed-eyed face of a crash victim whose heart rate is slowing to a stop. The wrenching in his own heart when he knew he could have,  _ should _ have, saved a patient. The weight of his guilt and the faces of the patient’s family as he leaves the ward, holding back tears and vomit. The useless pity as he sits slumped over in the hospital cafeteria, shaking, as older nurses pat his back and say, 

_ “You’ll get used to it.” _

Chan doesn’t think he ever will.

Felix knew death.

He knew right where to aim to kill. He knew the difference between screams of terror and screams of pain. He knew just the right words and men to send to  _ talk to _ any petty gang leaders, defectors, or unscrupulous CEOs who step out of line. Felix relished in the blood spilt on the linoleum floors of his headquarters, his inferiors running to dispose of the body and bringing in mops at the wave of his hand. To him, death was a way of life. A necessity in his line of work, and nothing more than a temporary inconvenience were it to befall his own men. A matter of numbers and figures, but also a craft of many colours.

Felix doesn’t fear death.

After all, he has no one to lose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo back in 2018 this was posted as a luwoo fic but i deleted it bc i never updated it and i felt bad LMAO so now it's been repurposed. I may or may not update it though...........  
> Does anyone know of any nctzen/stay/atiny writer discords or something?? all i have is one friend on twitter to ramble abt my fic ideas to..... very lonely !


	2. Chapter 2

The intensive care unit air bristled with disinfectant, stinging Chan’s nose through his mask as he hurried to the staff room, fresh black clogs squeaking along with him. Being new in the hospital and an uncommon sight in a largely female workforce, he was eager to prove his worth to the other nurses. On his first day on the job, he offered to take extra shifts for the rest of the week with the determination of a little boy who would stop at nothing to get to a jar of cookies placed on a high shelf. The other nurses laughed at him, but he stood his ground.

Four days later, he regretted it.

He knew what he signed up for, but he had seen too many bar fight victims, too many stupid people in A&E, and had to insert  _ way  _ too many foley catheters for his liking. Instead of saving lives like he envisioned, he was fending off flirty old ladies with broken hips who pressed the nurse call button multiple times a day  _ “just to see you, dearie.” _

The overstuffed, fraying armchair in the staff room groaned as Chan collapsed into it.

“Hard day?”

Chan let out a defeated screech which devolved into a weak sob as he curled up in the chair.

“Same,” Minho mumbled offhandedly, grabbing a cup and heading towards the coffee maker. Minho, being one of the few other male nurses at the hospital, took Chan under his wing. The two had become close friends in the space of a week, despite Minho’s initial reluctance to having to "take care" of someone.

_ “You won’t have to take care of me,”  _ Chan swore with an affirmative nod of his head, before promptly walking into a table.

“Here. Don’t burn yourself,” Minho said, passing a mug of coffee to him. He raised a limp hand and whimpered a thanks.

“Let me guess,” Minho sighed, pulling up a chair next to him.

“The old ladies?”

“They just won’t stop calling me handsome and asking me to talk to them and I don’t have the heart to say no!” Chan whined. 

“It’s just, I came here to save people, you know? Not patch up drunk middle aged men and screaming kids who don’t even thank me. I mean, not that I  _ want _ to see all the blood and guts and death, but…” He rolled over in his chair to face the other man.

“I don’t know. I just want to be part of something bigger. Like, I want to know that I helped someone make it to their ninetieth birthday, or that I kept someone who might not have wanted to stay alive, around until they found a reason to keep their heart beating. I don’t know.”

“I know what you mean,” Minho smiled gently.

“I was like that as well when I was new. But soon enough, you’ll find yourself wanting to go back to the old ladies and screaming children.”

Chan looked up from his mug to see Minho’s normally sharp eyes glazed over. He was staring into nothing, the weight of god knows what hanging over his head and sinking him into the chair.

“Hey,” Chan began, putting on a smile and placing his hand on Minho’s arm, hoping to lift his mood.

“You wanna get lunch or something with me this Saturday? Consider it a ‘survived my first week’ celebration.”

“Sure,” Minho laughed, opening his mouth to say more before the harsh beeping of both their pagers rang out. Chan raised an eyebrow. It was rare for them to get paged at the same time. He pulled out the clunky device and looked at the screen.

_ “All available personnel to A&E. Multiple gunshot victims.” _

-✧❀✧-

“This isn’t kindergarten. ‘Sorry’ doesn’t always fix things, you know,” Felix hummed, leaning back in his seat. The Seoul police superintendent sat on his knees in front of him, eyes trained downwards. He was a short stocky man, and out of his uniform, he looked like nothing more than your local midlife-crisis bargoer. Felix was deadly calm, not a hair ruffled on his head, voice deep and velvety smooth.

“What did you do, Seungho?”

“I-I launched a sting operation against you,” The man coughed out. Felix leaned forwards, face inches away from his.

“And did it work?” He whispered. The man shook his head in shame.

“That’s right,” Felix said, sitting back again.

“All you did was cause a bit of a ruckus and get a couple people killed. Not just my men, but yours as well, along with a few innocent bystanders. And you know how much I hate getting the public involved.” Felix extended a leg and tilted up Seungho’s head with a perfectly polished shoe.

“So, Seungho, for the sake of your family, what are you going to do?”

“I’ll resign,” He whimpered.

“I’ll say I made a mistake and we had the wrong target and no one will hear from me again.”

“There we go,” Felix smiled, standing up. He snapped his fingers and his guards stepped forwards to grab Seungho by the arms.

“Drop him off. Be inconspicuous about it.” 

The guards forced a blindfold over the struggling man and began to escort him out.

“And, Seungho,” Felix began.

“Don’t forget your promise.”

The penthouse doors slammed shut.

Most people in his position were cautious about being alone without their guards, but Felix preferred solitude. Even guards couldn’t always be trusted, as he had learned first hand on his way to the top of the hierarchy. Anyways, in a penthouse on the top floor of a skyscraper with heavy security on the floors beneath him, there was little to fear. Pouring himself a glass of wine, he ambled over to the TV, switching it on. A reporter appeared, standing in front of a hospital.

_ “In there are the thirty-nine victims of yesterday’s club shooting, twelve of which have died. Sources believe it was a police raid gone wrong.The police superintendent is scheduled to release a statement on the subject tomorrow…” _

Felix smiled. Even the media was learning not to point fingers at him now. He didn’t get into his career because he wanted the world to tremble under his name, but at this point?

Might as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just think felix sexy  
> [twt](https://twitter.com/_lavieennoir_)  
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/lvnoir?t=1562147349)  
> [youtube where i upload a shitpost once a year](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLwOT4vpHeg73DxCc8Fh3qg?)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !warning!  
> Somewhat graphic description of an injury in this. If that bothers you, you can ctrl+F to "chan felt watched" and start from there.

Chan had never seen so much blood in his life. 

One by one, gurneys rolled in past him, men in suits and police uniforms, and women in skimpy dresses. The uniforms were supposed to be blue, but they just looked brown, soaked through with blood. Minho had run to the triage section where the regular nurse needed help with the sheer number of victims, leaving Chan alone and shell shocked. A gurney rolled in, pausing a few feet from him to let another victim pass. In those few seconds, Chan could see why the nurse moving that stretcher was in no hurry.

He wished he hadn’t.

It looked like a young man, or at least his eyes looked young. Possibly around Chan’s age. His jaw and neck were shredded to unrecognisability. In the gaping, dripping hole where his mouth was supposed to be, Chan could see teeth, and what might have been half of a tongue.

He couldn’t look away, so he stared. He stared while the body rolled past, and out the door to the morgue.

“Chan?”

Another nurse stood next to him. Her hand was lifted slightly, like she was going to tap him on the shoulder, but she stopped, on account of her bloodied gloves. 

“You’re wanted in trauma. They’re stable, but be prepared to extract a bullet or two.”

Chan nodded, and went on his way. Was the man in the stretcher looking at him? He was dead. But his eyes were half open, and his head, slumped to the side, was turned towards him. Glaring at Chan, mocking him.

_ “You could have been me. You still can be me.” _

Chan felt watched, but he ignored the feeling. In the trauma unit, he followed orders. Local anaesthetic. Clean the wound. Suture and bandage. Easy. Easy to the point where everyone started to look the same and Chan wasn’t sure how long he had been there. His “breaks” were leaving the room to update worried relatives outside, until they had all gone back home, whether reassured or devastated. Looking out the window when he was told he was done, it seemed like the news reporters were going home, too.

“Minho, Minho…” he mumbled to himself.

“I have to find Minho…”

He fumbled with his pockets, not sure what he was looking for as he left the room.The attending physician gave him a look, but went back to her work. She had probably seen far worse cases of nurse burnout.

The endless white walls of the hospital were starting to feel like a dreamscape that Chan was floating through, the faces around him blurred and the sounds muffled. In the slightly less discomforting staff room, Minho was sitting slumped over on a couch, a cup of warm water on a coffee table in front of him. He patted the seat next to him when Chan came into the room.

“That was a lot.”

Chan nodded.

“You should go home.”

Chan nodded again. Minho sighed and threw an arm over his shoulder, giving him a gentle shake.

“I’ll drive you, come on.”

The drive to Chan’s apartment was mostly silent, as the exhaustion of his twelve hour shift set in. At a red light, Minho held Chan’s hand to give it a reassuring squeeze.

“I don’t remember much about my first week of real work, but it couldn’t have been as bad as yours is going.”

“It’s alright,” Chan sighed.

“As long as I’m helping someone, it’s alright. This is what I signed up for.”

“But are  _ you  _ alright?”

“I don’t know. I’m a little shaken, I guess. But I’ll get used to it, right?”

The light turned green, and they were moving again. It was 7:48AM on a Thursday, but the traffic wasn’t too bad.

“It kinda depends. Injuries, I can deal with. Road accidents and stuff are pretty routine, so I can put the goriness behind me and just do my job. But real violence… I don’t know if I’ll ever really get used to that. Either way, I do my job, but there’s something worse about harm that’s deliberately caused.”

They stopped at an intersection for a long time, a flood of cars leaving the residential district that they lived in.

“Remember last year when there was that spike in gang violence? Today was the first time since then that I saw gunshot wounds in civilians. So many of them, too. I don’t understand how people who aren’t police are getting ahold of firearms… really makes you wonder what goes on in this city that you don’t see.”

Sitting on the bed in his little studio apartment, Chan really didn’t have the appetite or the energy to cook anything, even though he hadn’t eaten a proper meal since since his shift started. He didn’t want to turn on the TV, and he avoided Instagram, going straight to checking his messages. As expected, Minho had texted him. He was pretty much his only friend, everyone he knew in nursing school having gone off to different workplaces.

_ [Lee Minho SNUH] _

_ Yo _

_ You have day shift tmr right? _

_ I'm doing night shift so we won’t see each other :/ _

_ I’ll treat you to lunch on saturday, u deserve it… just tell me what kinda food you like and we’ll go eat :) no pressure if ur too tired tho! _

_ Alright I’m gonna sleep. Good night (morning?) and make sure you get lots of rest!!! _

Chan smiled. He’d have to change Minho’s contact name to something less formal. He replied, saying he’d think about where they could eat, and pulled his blackout curtains closed. They were cheap, but they got the job done when he leaned boxes against the ends of the curtains, to stop light leaking in underneath them. Chan always slept with two pillows: one for his head, and the other to hug for emotional support. If he didn’t know Minho had a boyfriend, he’d probably have caught feelings despite only having known him for a few days. He was that affection starved. The last relationship he had was one with some girl in his second year of university, and that only lasted a few months. Tinder never worked out for him, either. 

_ I could always go to a bar and do some people watching. _

Chan drifted into an uneasy sleep. He dreamed of loud noises, scattered teeth, and half a tongue.

-✧ ✞ ✧-

“Ugh, why did that police guy have to go and fuck up our weekend plans like that? Now all the clubs are closed in ‘commemoration’ or some shit,” Jisung whined. He was sitting on the floor of Felix’s bedroom, the two of them painting their nails.

“I know, right? I mean, It sucks that some regular people got killed but…” 

Felix shrugged, and reached for a sheet of nail stickers. They were tiny, inked flowers. It was difficult to find stickers which fit his small hands and usually short nails, but these were just right.

“We can still go to a bar or something tomorrow. There’s gotta be hot people somewhere. I don’t own any bars though, so we’re gonna have to actually pay for our drinks,” Felix sighed. 

“Jeongin runs like, a whole street of them, dude. We’ll just ask him to sort things out for us. I’m pretty sure everyone there knows you, anyway.”

Jisung lifted a hand, messily painted black, up to the light, examining his work.

“Is it gonna be just us going?”

“I mean, probably. Jeongin spends all his time with Changbin now. They’ve got some real kinky shit going on, man. I kinda wish that were me.”

“You mean you wish you were Jeongin, or Changbin?” Felix asked. They really did have some kinky shit going on. Changbin recently started wearing a collar most of the time, occasionally with a leash attached, the end of it held in Jeongin’s hand. 

“Hmm, probably Jeongin. It looks fun. But I can see the appeal in doing whatever Changbin does, too.”

Felix nodded. Real friends were rare in his line of work, as they had to be. Felix himself wouldn’t be where he was, if it weren’t for some betraying he did along the way. But he was pretty sure Jisung was a real friend. A little insane, maybe, but the madder the better as long as he stayed out of Felix’s business ventures. He was a bit of a wild card. Unaffiliated with any organisation, but loved doing dirty work for Felix. If you asked him about his body count, he’d give you two numbers. You’d have to guess which were his murders and which were his partners.

Jeongin was a potential threat, given their parallel operations, but he didn’t seem greedy for more power, so Felix was happy to be his friend. Although, he did steal Changbin, who used to be Felix’s most loyal operative…

“Just wear a leather jacket and some platform boots and I’m sure you’ll find someone to dom when we go out.”

“Hmm… I think I will! What are  _ you  _ gonna wear? Gimme the vibes.”

Jisung stood up, his nails now dry, and opened Felix’s walk in closet. If it were anyone else, they’d have a fight on their hands for doing that.

“Uhh, let’s say I’m looking to seduce someone, give them the best fuck of their life, and then never see them again so they feel empty and I’m all they can think about for the next twenty years.”

“Oh, I do that every other day. Hmm… You can’t be too much of a slut at a bar...”

He pulled out a pair of very ripped, black jeans. High waisted, of course.

“You could wear fishnets under these, maybe. Ooh, this looks nice,”

From a hanging rack, he took out a deep carmine, satin shirt.

“Tuck this in and leave the top buttons open. Ya know, give ‘em some cleavage. Just put on some heavy eyeshadow and all the men will chase after you. Or girls, if that’s what you feel like tomorrow.”

Felix giggled.

“Will do.”

With Jisung taking a nap, cuddled into Felix’s side on his bed as he scrolled through the news on his phone, he started to think.

_ It's such a shame that I can’t love him. Not even platonically. _

Love was a luxury in his line of work, but the more powerful you were, the less you could afford it. Loving someone meant setting them up to be used against you. In Jisung’s case, it also meant setting Felix up for more emotions than he could safely have. He was like a firework: bright, loud, and burning, but bound to vanish far too soon. Felix didn’t want to hurt more than he had to when he inevitably gets dashed out.

That’s just how it was. A job hazard.

His phone buzzed with a message from Changbin.

_ [dwaekki] _

_ Just got mole info. Seungho is gone but the new superintendent is bad news _

_ Says he wants to weed out police corruption and he’s suspicious of why seungho stepped down. Things might start getting bad for us _

__

_ [Me] _

_ Tell the vault to open on saturday night and we’ll meet there _

_ Bring seungmin with u _

When Changbin gave him an affirmative, he turned off his phone and turned towards Jisung.

“Hey, The Vault’s gonna be open on Saturday night, but only because I have a meeting. You can go and dance if you want. Or get danced on. I’m sure Hyunjin wouldn’t mind giving you a private show at a discount.”

“Ooh, I might. We’re still going tomorrow night though, yeah?”

“Yep. Hey, you wanna play Overcooked?”

“Our friendship is gonna be so destroyed. Fuck yeah.”

They dragged themselves out of bed, got the Switch set up, and were soon yelling at each other over virtual soup.

It’s nice to have a real friend, if you know you can let go of them when you need to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> blease let me know if there's something I should tag or any warnings I missed !!  
> [twt. please talk to me here please](https://twitter.com/_lavieennoir_)  
> [cc. u can talk to me here too](https://curiouscat.me/lvnoir?t=1562147349)  
> [youtube where i uhhhhh](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLwOT4vpHeg73DxCc8Fh3qg?)


	4. Chapter 4

Friday’s shift was calm, as calm as it could get considering the times. Check handoff reports, do what had to be done. A patient Chan had cared for in his last shift wasn’t there anymore. Not that it was a surprise, he had heard about it on the news. On the plus side, an old lady who had her hip replaced was discharged during his shift. He helped her down to reception, where her family was waiting, and she showered him with grandmotherly praise. Well, at least he was a “kind, handsome young man” to someone. At 6:50PM, he got to writing his handoff reports, and he left the ward at exactly seven. Things were fine. Things were good. He changed out of his scrubs, grabbed his bag from his locker, and got on the bus home. It was quite nice, really, the convenience of it all. He could get on a bus right outside the hospital, and it dropped him off a corner away from his building. Even though it was rush hour, he found a seat, and he let his tired legs rest.

Back home, Chan had eaten dinner (leftover pasta), and sat on his bed, wondering what he should do until tomorrow morning, when he’d be going to eat lunch with Minho. He had a couch, but considering that he lived in a studio apartment, there wasn’t much point in having it around. He also had two chairs at the kitchen bar table. There was no point, he never had any visitors.

“Maybe I should get a cat,” he mumbled to himself. That sounded nice. Sitting and eating lunch with a cat next to him. Maybe he’d offer the cat slices of cheese, and the cat would take them.

“God, I’m so lonely.”

He was right. Outside of work, Chan saw next to nobody. His communication was limited to Minho and his parents, the latter of which he never really wanted to talk to anyway.

“I mean, I could go out. Bars are open. Shit, I’m twenty three and I’ve only kissed like, two people,” he sighed.

He picked up his phone and looked for bars nearby.

Chan felt a little out of place sitting alone with his minimal makeup and barely styled hair, but he was hoping it worked with his attempt at a grunge outfit. When in doubt, wear jeans, tuck in your shirt, and add a chain or two. The bar wasn’t packed, but there were enough people for Chan to be safely ignored. He raised a hand for the bartender.

“Hi, could I get a sea breeze? Thanks.”

The bartender was pretty, with a slightly deeper voice than he’d expected. Her name tag said “Ryujin”. He’d chat with her, but it looked like she had something going on with another girl at the bar. She had sharp, foxy eyes, and looked about as tall as Chan was.

He got his sea breeze, a pleasantly translucent red under the yellow bar lights. Happily taking sips, he let his gaze drift around the room, trying to look at people without staring creepily. Pretty much everyone was with someone, groups varying from office workers in button up shirts and slacks, to kids who look like they have fake IDs. Ryujin, who had left the bar for a moment, reentered and stopped in front of Chan.

“So, everything’s on the house for you, courtesy of the man in the red shirt back there.”

“What?”

He turned around, and sure enough, at a table in the corner, was a dainty looking man with a red, satin shirt, unbuttoned borderline scandalously, and fishnets under his jeans. He had a friend with him, someone with the biggest platform boots he had ever seen. Neither of them turned away when Chan looked at them. Instead, the man in the red shirt stared him down with hungry, piercing eyes, daring him to look away first. He did.

“Well, uh… tell him I said thanks?”

“I think that’s on you. He won’t be mad if you turn him down, but… I would avoid trying to piss him off.”

Ryujin took an order from someone else, abruptly ending the conversation. 

_ Fuck it. _

The excitement of a potential  _ someone _ tingled up his spine, in a mostly enjoyable way, having not felt it for so long. This wasn’t how he expected his night to go, but he wasn’t complaining. Although… he didn’t know if Ryujin always looked so perturbed when someone’s drinks got paid for. Maybe she was just overworked. The bar was filling up, that was probably why she left so quickly, before Chan could ask her what she meant by “I would avoid trying to piss him off”.

He turned his head to take another look at the man, but he was beaten to it.

“Hi, are you with anyone tonight?”

_ Oh fuck, he’s pretty. _

He had the warmest smile, and eyes that just felt  _ safe _ .

“N-No,” he stammered.

_ So pretty. _

Pretty, like your first love who you met at the beach when you were seventeen, with freckles that the sun kissed onto his cheeks and a golden glow around him.

He hopped onto the seat next to Chan, and rested his arm on the bar. Their fingers were so close he could feel them. The hungry look was back, albeit gentler as he eyed Chan up.

Pretty, like he’d kiss you in all your favourite places, so when he leaves you, you’d taste him like blood in your mouth wherever you tried to forget him.

“So, what’s your name?” He asked. 

“I’m Chan.”

Pretty, like he’d devastate you.

“Nice to meet you, Chan. I’m Felix.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a short chapter...... sorry :(  
> but ohoho..... they've met!! they've met !!!!!  
> i hope u guys like what i write.... i sometimes do not like what i write......  
> [twitter... do chat!](https://twitter.com/_lavieennoir_)  
> [cc.... if u say something nice here i will think abt it for 3 years](https://curiouscat.me/lvnoir?t=1562147349)  
> [youtube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLwOT4vpHeg73DxCc8Fh3qg?)


	5. Chapter 5

“Felix,” Chan repeated, savouring his name. Felix leaned in, resting his chin on his hand. 

“So, are you here for anything in particular?” He asked.

“Uh, I’m just here to unwind and look at people,” Chan laughed, their closeness making him feel things he hadn’t felt in ages.

“Wait, that sounds weird. I just mean, like, I’m a nurse, and I just started working full time, and it’s been really messy this week with the shooting and all, and I don’t have any friends outside of work, so it’s all just been really isolating, and I’m rambling. Sorry.”

Felix nodded, gazing at him attentively the whole time.

“It’s no problem. I don’t mind listening to such a hot guy talk. Hardworking, too. I know I wouldn’t last a day in nurse school.”

Chan felt his ears heating up, and he looked away to giggle nervously.

“It’s a difficult path, but it’s worth it. What about you?”

“Me?”

Felix made eye contact with Ryujin and raised a hand. She got to work without asking what he wanted.

_ Must be a regular, _ Chan thought.

“Well, I work in business,” he said nonchalantly.

“But that’s not really important right now. You see, I was originally here looking for someone to have a night of fun with, but you don’t strike me as that kind of guy. Am I wrong?”

The heat in Chan’s ears spread to his face. 

_ HE wants to fuck ME? _

“Well, uh… I… I mean…”

“You can say no. Don’t feel pressured. I’m actually here with my friend, and he’s great fun, so it’s not like I’d be sitting here bored and alone if you don’t want to.”

Chan turned around. The guy in the platform boots was still there, now chatting with a flustered looking man. Well, Chan wasn’t the only person panicking in the bar.

“I… I’m sorry, you’re gorgeous but… I get attached really easily, so… probably not the best idea...”

Felix pouted and sat back up. Chan stayed frozen, not sure if he regretted saying no.

“That’s a shame. But I’m open to having you for a little longer than a night,” Felix hummed.

“How long is a little longer?”

“Depends on how much I like you.”

Ryujin came back with Felix’s drink. A cranberry mojito, from the looks of it. He gave it a stir and took a delicate sip. That was how Felix seemed to be: delicate. But Chan could tell there was more to him than that.

“So what do you say? Can I at least talk to you tonight? I don’t think there’s anyone else here for either of us,” Felix said. Chan didn’t have it in him to say no. There was something transfixing about Felix.

“Sure.”

“Great! I’ll just let my friend over there know.”

Felix hopped off the bar stool, and Chan watched him go. He moved smoothly, like his steps were practiced.

“Oh my god, Jisung,” Felix laughed, out of earshot to Chan.

“What’s going on? You pulled, right?”

“Yes, but no. He doesn’t want a one night stand. I told you he looks like a softie. And, get this- he’s a hospital nurse and he had to deal with all the people who got shot, and he’s like, freaked out about it. I was playing dumb, like ‘oh, that must be hard’, but like, damn. He has no idea.”

Jisung sat up and grinned.

“Dude, you could totally send him presents. Like, if you get rid of someone you could carve his name and a heart into the guy and send him to the hospital and he’d get a nice little gift! Isn’t that romantic.”

“Oh, shut up before I call mental health services on you again. Anyway, I’m gonna stick around and talk to him. Fresh meat, you know? He’ll be fun for a couple of dates. But where did your guy go? Weren’t you talking to someone?”

“Yeah, but I think I freaked him out. I guess I’ll just talk to Hyunjin tomorrow.”

“Understandable. You can leave when you want, okay? Just let me know first.”

Jisung nodded, and Felix went back to the bar.

“That’s Jisung. He’s kinda crazy, I love him.”

He hoisted himself back onto the seat.

“So, Chan, why don’t you tell me more about yourself?”

He took a sip of his cocktail, and looked into Chan’s eyes with that piercing stare again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is starting to get really dialogue heavy...... and my chapters are getting really short.............. I'm sorry................... please tell me if this dialogue heavy thing is difficult/annoying to read... if it is I'll make future chapters different 🤠🤠  
> Also pls let me know if u see a spelling/formatting error!!!! I miss things quite a lot and google docs is not the best at informing me........


	6. Chapter 6

“So. Your first week is done. How do you feel?”

Chan and Minho sat in a booth at an all day breakfast place, waiting for their food to arrive.

“Tired, but something good happened yesterday.”

“Go on.”

“I got a cute boy’s number.”

Minho gasped and leaned forwards eagerly.

“Spill.”

Chan giggled, embarrassed.

“So, his name is Felix, he’s really pretty, and he’s some kind of business person. We met at a bar last night and we talked for like, hours. And, we’re meeting again next week.”

A plate of waffles was placed in front of Chan, followed by Minho’s eggs benedict. He excitedly poured chocolate sauce over his waffle, and dumped an unhealthy amount of whipped cream on it.

“Seriously, he’s so pretty, and he’s such a good conversation.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear you’ve maybe found someone,” Minho said, in between bites of muffin.

“It’s important to have social support when you have such a wild job. Like, I have three cats and they’re there for me when no one else is.”

Chan nodded and ate a square of waffle.

In his line of work, having someone who loves you supposedly made a world of difference, and Chan was starting to understand why. Watching people suffer for twelve hours is depressing in itself. Going home to an empty flat, eating leftovers and going to bed alone made it even worse.

“You’re pretty much my only social support, Minho. Thanks for taking care of me, by the way.”

“Oh, it’s no problem. Let’s just hope I won’t have to be your only support for much longer.”

-✧✞✧-

It was ten minutes past eleven at night on the other side of the city. Felix and Jisung held hands as they walked past closed nightclub after closed nightclub, passing one surrounded by wreaths of flowers and a few lit candles. Most of them had burned out. They turned the corner, and a rare light was on at a club. In bright purple, neon lettering, “The Vault” was sprawled across the facade. It wasn’t an establishment Felix himself had started. He had taken it off the previous owner’s hands a few years ago. Jisung cleaned up after him, though, so Felix was happy to divert some of the profit to him. 

A group of girls with dyed hair and impressively high heels chatted loudly as they walked behind the two. Felix pulled lightly on Jisung’s arm, and they slowed down to let them pass in front of them. As expected, the girls turned towards the bouncer of The Vault, handed over the cover charge, and walked in. Only then did Felix and Jisung approach. The bouncer, a tall, gruff man in an unseasonably long coat did a double take, before bowing quickly and holding the door open for them.

“Thanks!” They chimed. That was their policy: do whatever you want to the rich and powerful, but always be polite to people who are just doing their job.

“Hyunjin’s probably gonna do his pole routine in a bit, but you can find him afterwards. Got enough money for him?” Felix asked, raising his voice against the booming music. Jisung gave him a grin, nodded, and disappeared into the crowd. The lights were all purple, and an unlit catwalk stage with a pole at the end of it signaled what was yet to come. The venue was just starting to fill up. The fuller the better, really. That meant it was easier for them to blend in. Jisung looked the part, he always did. He showed up to everything in a crop top. Felix, on the other hand, looked a little out of place in his modest, black sweater outfit, but he’d fit in better upstairs. That was where he was headed, where the lights were red and the private rooms were. The attendant at the staircase stepped aside as Felix walked up. 

It was quieter up here, so the dancers could put on their own music in the rooms. Instead of curtains providing privacy, each room had a tinted, sliding door. He didn’t walk to the end of the hallway, where the biggest VIP room was. Instead, he stopped at the third room, hands nearly missing the door handle in the deep, red light. It was disorienting, but it was supposed to be.

“Well, you’re,” Changbin glanced up at the clock on the wall of the room. It was 11:15PM.

“Exactly on time. That’s unusual.”

“Yeah, I came with Jisung. He didn’t wanna miss Hyunjin’s performance.”

Changbin was sprawled over a couch, which Seungmin sat up straight at the end of. He wore white. He always wore white. Felix sat down on an armchair opposite to them.

“You always look so fucking uptight,” he sighed.

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to do this for you,” Seungmin replied. He was right. Seungmin was the only person Felix knew whose record was clean, and not through bribery.

_I’m sure Chan’s clean, as well._

He brushed the thought of him aside.

“Yeah, yeah. Anyways, tell us what you know.”

Seungmin pulled a notebook out of his backpack, and Felix would have laughed at how out of place he was if the situation was any less serious. He flipped through pages and pages of neat but quick handwriting, then flipped a couple of pages back.

“Alright. So, Heo Chanwook was originally superintendent down in Busan, but he got transferred here because the government wanted someone new to the force. Most of the police including the people directly under him don’t like him very much, for obvious reasons. I don’t think he knows yet, just how much of the senior leadership is there and eating well through unethical means. That’s good for us, though.”

Felix nodded. 

“Does he have any solid plans yet?”

“There’s word that he’s going to get ahold of detectives instead of the general body to weed out people like you. Like us. If they’re police detectives, then it’s no problem, but I feel like he’s gonna go for private ones because he’s suspicious of us. That could mean you’d have to do some moving around.”

“Fucking hell, but I love my penthouse,” Felix sighed.

“You’ll be okay for now. I won’t let him get your name. I’ll try not to let him, anyway. He’s definitely not the kind of guy you can bribe, so… I wouldn’t want him knowing any of you by name.” Seungmin trailed off a little. Nobody really knew whether he liked his “friends”, or if he just really hated the police. It didn't matter. He was useful either way.

“How much does he know about the people who run everything shady around here? I mean, people like Felix and Jeongin. Does he still think it’s all just semi-organised gangs?” Changbin asked.

“I don’t know, but It’s safe to assume he still thinks it’s groups of street gangs who’ve gotten rich. Then again, how different are we to them, anyway? That’s where you started out, isn’t it?”

“That’s where Changbin started out. I like to think my beginnings were a little more noble than that,” Felix laughed, but they all hushed as they heard footsteps pass. Two pairs: flat shoes, and high heels. A nearby door slid open, then closed. Just people doing business. That’s what these rooms were for.

“No one is noble in this game that we play,” Changbin murmured.

Downstairs, Jisung was positively having the time of his life. Granted, he said that every time he was surrounded by flashing lights and people dancing. But this time, it wasn’t the people on the dance floor making his night, it was Hyunjin finishing his pole routine. He had done it hundreds of times before, so many times that he made it look easy, the lights framing him like a sinful halo as he slowly spun down, from several feet high until his toes touched the stage floor. As he gracefully slid into a crawl, skillfully sweeping bills inwards so that they wouldn’t fall off the stage while accepting more between his teeth and in the straps of his faux-leather harness, he looked into Jisung’s eyes. The contact was scathing, and Jisung was pretty sure he was watching god himself. He tilted his head in that subtle way which said _“wait for me outside the staff room”._

Jisung didn’t need to be told.

Seven minutes later, he stood outside a door that read “staff only”. It was a changing room, and where the nice toilets were. Hyunjin had let him hide in there once, when someone who probably wanted him dead happened to come into the club. The door opened, the plain white light behind it barely making a dent in the heavy purple glow of the rest of the club. Hyunjin was slightly more clothed now, a semi-sheer robe covering his body, which was otherwise hidden only by an intricate harness which pressed just a little tightly into his chest, and a black miniskirt which didn’t cover much at all. The last time Jisung saw him, his hair was bright pink and it fell just past his chin, a little less when he tucked it behind his ear. Now, it had faded to a pastel colour, and half of his hair was tied up where it would have gotten in the way of his vision. That was the colour it seemed, anyway. You couldn’t make features like that out so easily in the purple lights. That was part of the appeal, you never really knew who you were dancing with, so your imagination filled in the gaps. He offered Jisung a half smile and put an arm around his waist, leading him to the staircase.

“You only do that to make everyone else here jealous,” Jisung giggled, leaning into Hyunjin’s side.

“Do what?” Hyunjin had to lean down a little to purr straight into Jisung’s ear, but it was well worth it to feel him shiver in his hold.

“This,” Jisung rested his own hand over Hyunjin’s, who thumbed over his bare waist. Some club goers stared as they walked past, eyeing them, mostly Hyunjin, up. Hyunjin didn’t do private shows.

“Maybe I do. I didn’t expect to see you tonight, you know. Not an unpleasant surprise.”

The first floor attendant let them pass, albeit with a surprised look towards Hyunjin.

“You’d be able to expect me if you gave me your number,” Jisung grumbled, nosing at Hyunjin’s neck.

“Sorry love, you know my policy on that.” 

Even though Jisung hadn’t drank all night, he stumbled over his feet in the red lights which seemed to warp reality, giggling and holding onto Hyunjin’s strong shoulders. The first and the third rooms had their little white lights off, meaning they were occupied, so Hyunjin took him to the fourth, and detached Jisung from his side just long enough to open the sliding door. Jisung tripped a little as he skipped in and slumped down in the vinyl armchair as Hyunjin closed the door behind them. As he walked towards Jisung, feeling his eyes trail down his body, he let his robe slip down his shoulders until it hung off his arms. He climbed onto the chair, thighs on either side of Jisung’s, but he wasn’t going to sit on his lap just yet. Instead, he tilted Jisung’s head up so they could look into each other’s eyes, and he ran his fingers down Jisung’s pretty neck.

“What do you want to see from me tonight?”

Jisung lifted his hands to Hyunjin’s waist, knowing he was allowed.

“Anything, as long as it’s you.”

Next door, Felix caught the squeaky chime of Jisung’s voice pass his room.

“There he goes,” he mumbled.

“Jisung?” Changbin asked.

“Yep. I hope they don’t do anything that needs cleaning up in there, the poor janitor’s got enough to deal with. As I was saying, I think we should just lay low for a while. It’s not like _we’re_ on the streets killing anyone. I don’t think we’re doing bad things at all, to be honest…”

“Yeah, Heo’s focus at the moment is to deal with surface level street crime. As long as he doesn’t know there’s anything deeper going on, we should be fine.”

“I can check over all our operations tomorrow, I’ll see if there’s anything we should adjust so we stay safe,” Changbin proposed.

“Sure. But, Changbin…” Felix glanced at the clock, and then at Seungmin.

“Oh, you can go, Seungmin. Thanks for everything. You can go downstairs and socialise. I’m sure there’s someone hot down there.”

“Thanks, but not my crowd. You need me to send you any recaps or other information later?” He stood up, taking his backpack with him. 

“I’ll let you know if I do.”

As Seungmin opened the door, he turned to eye up Changbin, suspiciously. He always left when he was told to, but that didn’t stop him from wondering what happened when he was away. 

“Changbin, you understand that everything we talk about here is confidential, yeah?”

“Of course.”

“Of course,” Felix echoed.

“I trust you, but I know your heart is elsewhere. And I know Jeongin is a little more… hands on with his operations, so what we’ve discussed would probably be _very_ important information to him. Unless he has his own police mole. Does he?”

“I… I don’t know. He doesn’t tell me much about what he does.”

“That’s wise of him. You know, Changbin, I’m not an asshole, and Jeongin is my friend too, sort of. Not to mention, the police getting ahold of him could mean they get ahold of us as well. When you go home tonight, tell him to stay safe, okay? Tell him to watch his tracks, and stay off the streets. That’s all.”

“I’ll try, but you know I can’t tell him to do anything.”

Changbin looked at the floor next to Felix’s feet, and he ran his fingers over the dips in the couch.

“Right. He doesn’t love you enough to stay out of trouble for you, I know. There’s so many people who'd treat you better, Changbin-”

“You don’t need to tell me that.” Changbin’s fingers stopped moving, and if Felix were any worse at reading people, he’d mistake the bitter hurt in his eyes for anger.

“Sorry. You know, there’s people I’d like to keep safe given the change in circumstances as well.”

“What, you’ve got a new boy toy?”

“I meant Jisung, mostly. You know how he is, the little incendiary. He keeps cyanide on him, and I know he won’t snitch when- if he gets caught, but I’d still rather he… didn’t. Matter of fact, I do have a new boy toy, though,” Felix laughed, sitting back in his chair.

“His name’s Chan. He’s pretty cute. A nurse. He was too shy to come home with me when we met, but I’ll get there eventually. I’m gonna have dinner with him this week.”

“That’s nice. Jeongin never…” Changbin sighed and rolled over onto his black. The red LED light strips in the corners of the room burned a little if he looked at them for too long, so he turned away, towards Felix.

“Does he know who you are?”

“I told him I work in business. Not a lie.”

“Yeah. A nurse could be useful in our line of work.”

"Mmhm, I’m not sure if I want him that way, though. He seems like the kind to grass. He’s just… he strikes me as a virgin, you know? I just wanna mess with him and then I’ll move on. It’s something to do now that I can’t hit the streets so easily.”

Changbin heaved himself into sitting upright, and slowly made eye contact with Felix, as if he had to force himself to.

“Be careful doing that. You don’t want someone falling in love with you when you just wanted some fun. He’ll end up following you around. Following you everywhere, because he wants to protect you, and he thinks he can. But he’ll just be a liability," Changbin said softly. He stood up, and headed towards the door. Felix let a slight frown betray his emotions.

“You’re not a liability to me, Bin.”

“I know. Not to you.”

The door opened, closed, and Felix sat in front of an empty couch in an impossibly red room. If Hyunjin weren’t occupied, he might have called him up for himself. Instead, he picked up his phone and checked his messages. There were a few from a couple hours ago.

_[Chan (cute bar guy)]_

_Hello it’s Chan :D_

_I’ve got my schedule for the coming week!!_

_I’m working day shifts on monday and wednesday, and the night shift from friday-saturday_

_So I’m free at any other time :)_

_You probably have a more rigid schedule than I do, so i’ll leave picking a time/place up to you? I’m not picky!!! Doesn’t have to be fancy or anything!_

_[Me]_

_Yayy_

_I’ll look around and send you any suggestions :)_

_Looking forward to seeing you again!_

Felix wasn’t lying when he typed his last message. He never lied to people who didn’t deserve to be deceived. He just didn’t tell them the whole truth, sometimes. It was almost midnight. He turned off his phone, and Felix sat in front of an empty couch in an impossibly red room again.

Chan wasn’t going to fall in love with him. He’d make sure of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will I ever stop over developing side characters? No!! I love stripper hyunjin and I will write 1000 words for him and like 200 for the main plot. Please tell me if u catch any errors!!! google docs has a clapped spell checker and it misses a lot of stuff for some reason........... I hope u guys are enjoying this.............
> 
> Thanks for almost 500 hits!!!!! when people read my stuff and enjoy it... i am.... habby :)
> 
> [twt. lets chat lads](https://twitter.com/_lavieennoir_)  
> [cc. we can also chat here lads](https://curiouscat.me/lvnoir?t=1562147349)  
> [youtube where i really wanna post... i swear i'll make videos when exams r over lmao](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLwOT4vpHeg73DxCc8Fh3qg?)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two chapters in one day! look at me go!

“A date! Felix is going on a date! He’s going on a date with a hot guy! Felix is going on a date!”

Jisung sing-songed to himself as he rummaged around in Felix’s closet, while he sat at the side, reading the news. It was an unusually quiet day.

“Felix, your clothes are so boring, why don’t you borrow some of my stuff?” Jisung exclaimed.

“I can’t wear a backless crop top at a fancy restaurant, Jisung.”

“Hmph. You must really be trying to get into his pants, taking him to an expensive place for the first date.”

Jisung picked up a pair of modestly heeled (by his standards), black ankle boots. They might have been his at some point, a tame pair for when he had to blend in. He didn’t care too much for blending in now, though.

“What can I say, man. Business is good, and I’ve got no potential major expenditures I can foresee.”

“For now.”

“What do you mean?”

“The police stopped me the other day, checked my trunk,” Jisung said offhandedly, as if it were no big deal. Felix pushed his laptop aside.

“What?”

“Oh, you know. I was on the Ducati and they must have thought I looked suspicious, so they gave me a pat down and looked in the box. I didn’t have anything in it, so they let me go. Said they were cracking down on the arms trade.”

“Shit, dude. Be careful out there.”

Jisung nodded, and went back to digging through Felix’s clothes. He always told Jisung to be careful, but he never listened.

“I’m serious. We don’t fully know what they’re up to yet, and if they really looked into you, that would be…”

“Don’t worry, Felix. They wouldn’t get too far,” Jisung laughed, lifting up the locket around his neck. He didn’t need to open it, Felix knew what was inside. Cyanide pills were a popular accessory in his line of work. He didn’t have one himself. He figured that if he got caught, and he wasn’t able to pay the police off, it would be kind of fun to stay alive and watch what happens to his little empire. Logically, Changbin would probably take over, just as Felix himself worked his way up years ago. But if Felix got caught, Changbin probably would too, but he had his escape route. Seungmin would probably avoid the worst of the crossfire. Maybe Jeongin would fill the power vacuum. He’d definitely try.

Anyways, Jisung let out an excited “ooh!” and pulled out a dark green overcoat. Felix squinted at it.

“Is that even mine? I don’t think I’ve ever worn green in my life.”

“Dunno. Worth trying, though. You could put on a white button down thing and wear this like, over your shoulders. That always makes people look cool. You know what? You should get some capes.”

Felix rolled his eyes. Jisung went through a new phase every other week. Two days ago, he impulse bought eight different capes on Etsy. Oh well, supporting small businesses. To be fair, they did look pretty cool, and if Felix were anyone else, he’d be wearing capes, too. Unfortunately, Felix had to hold himself back for practicality reasons. It was four in the afternoon on a Wednesday. 

_ Chan’s probably at work. _

-✧ ✞ ✧-

It had been suspiciously long since Chan’s pager went off. Maybe things were just calming down after the mess that was his first week. He took a sip of water, as he had been doing a lot. There just wasn’t much else to do. His main job at the moment was to take care of an old man who arrived in an ambulance in respiratory distress. A textbook patient. Place the nasal cannula, draw blood for the lab. An hour or so ago, he gave the man a diuretic to get some fluid out of his lungs, and now Chan stood around, helping him pee every fifteen minutes. Such are non-ambulatory patients. 

An hour before clock out, Chan was sent over to the ambulatory care area.

“Bit of a backlog going on. Fifteen year old girl with a broken leg in E4, she needs crutch training and then discharge, alright?”

Alright. 

The girl was in pretty good spirits, and she figured out crutches quickly. Chan pretended to not notice her older sister eyeing him up.

“There you go, you’re moving. If you’re having trouble standing up or you drop a crutch somewhere you can’t get it easily, ask for help, okay? You don’t wanna accidentally injure yourself any more.”

The girl nodded, and she was out. 

In a little while, Chan was out, too. He waited for Minho in the staff room. He really had to pay him back for all the free rides he was getting. Eventually, Minho arrived, changed into his outdoor clothes. His hair was wet from giving it a quick wash.

“Sorry I took so long. You mightn’t have had much going on, but I’ve had to run around for the last hour. Two stroke patients, one after the other. Mad,” he sighed.

“They alright?”

“Yeah, and the next shift’s nurse came right on time so I passed the handoff card straight to her.” 

They waved goodbye to the reception staff as they left.

“You’re not working until the weekend, right?” Chan asked, as they sat down in Minho’s car.

“Yep. I guess this is our weekend, then. Any plans?” He started up the car, and they made the roll out of the hospital parking lot. There were a lot of cars on the road, but they were moving. 

“Yeah, I’m going for dinner with the guy I met at the bar tomorrow. And get this- it’s at, like, a proper fancy restaurant. Like, with a dress code.”

“Oh my, for a first date! Sugar daddy?”

“No!” Chan gave Minho a gentle smack on the arm.

“He’s younger than me, actually… anyways, I kept saying, like, ‘oh, you don’t have to, I’m not that kind of high-maintenance guy’, but he insisted. He said he’s paying for everything. Man, it must be nice making that much money straight out of university,” he sighed.

“Well, enjoy it. I think we’re entitled to some good food. We do some wild shit at work.” 

Chan had to agree. These days, he had been having nightmares about getting a catheter put in him. The aging population was really taking a toll on him.

“Isn’t it strange, though?” Minho asked. There was quite a line at the red light they were at. It would probably take the second light turn for them to move along.

“What do you mean?”

“Like, did he say anything about his family? It seems weird that he’s not worried about blowing his money like that. I mean, maybe he’s just splurging to impress you, but, still.”

“He… didn’t say much about his background at all, when we met. He just said he works in business.”

“Yeah, the drug business probably,” Minho chuckled. The light turned green. 

“Oh, come on. I’m pretty sure drug dealers aren’t so high class.” They moved forwards several metres, and the light turned red.

“An arms dealer, then.”

“Well, maybe,” Chan laughed.

“Shit, this could be my twenty fourteen, wattpad fanfiction moment. With the mafia boyfriend and all.”

“Well, tell me how it goes! I’m excited for you. So, I guess when you said ‘fuck the rich’, you meant it literally.”

Chan smacked him again, and he wondered how he got so lucky with the one friend he had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jisung likes to ride his expensive motorcycle around at night and pretend he's the main character of a sci fi/spy movie.
> 
> [twt hehe lets be friends](https://twitter.com/_lavieennoir_)   
>  [twt for nsfw threads](https://twitter.com/woahsxnsxng)   
>  [cc](https://curiouscat.me/lvnoir?t=1562147349)   
>  [really dead youtube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLwOT4vpHeg73DxCc8Fh3qg?)


	8. Chapter 8

“And… there you go! You look so good, man. If that guy doesn’t get on his knees for you, I will.”

Felix laughed, pushing Jisung aside so he could look into his vanity mirror. He did look good. He had to remind Jisung about twelve times to not go ham with the eyeshadow, but the brown and gold worked well with the dark green overcoat Jisung bullied him into wearing. 

“I could pass as some kind of fantasy elf character,” he remarked.

“You’re a hundred and seventy centimetres tall. You’d be a pixie.”

“You too,” Felix teased. He fixed his bangs a little, and checked the time. 

“When do you need to go?” Jisung asked.

“Fifteen minutes. He doesn’t want a pick up, so I’m meeting him there.”

“Lovely, lovely. I can stay here while you’re gone, right?” Jisung flopped onto Felix’s bed, and gestured for him to pass the bag of chips over. Felix only bought fancy, mixed root vegetable chips. Jisung pulled a blue chip out of the bag. He didn’t know what vegetable it was, but it tasted good, and he liked pretending to be healthy.

“Don’t get chips on my bed. But yeah, you can stay. You practically live here, anyway. I should get you to pay rent,” Felix sighed.

“I pay you with love and affection. If you end up coming back with the guy, though, let me know and I’ll get out.”

“Sure, sure,” Felix smirked.

“I wonder what Chan is doing.”

-✧ ✞ ✧-

_ [Me] _

_ Dude i have to leave in 5 minutes im so stressed _

_ I swear i’m gonna forget to bring something or i’ll be severely over/underdressed  _

_ Oh man oh man _

_ [minho :)] _

_ Your outfit is FINE _

_ Its kinda dark academia. Very pinterest _

_ Wallet, phone, keys. In a small bag because pockets are not safe _

_ [Me] _

_ Yeah yeah _

_ Bro what if this goes badly _

_ He’s spending so much money on me man i dont wanna fuck this up. What if HE’s not that great. I’ll feel guilty if i dont see him again bc he’s paying _

_ [minho :)] _

_ I mean if you’ve already talked in person for a few hours there’s a limit to how bad it can go _

_ Like at least u know ur not getting catfished _

_ Anyways have fun xx _

Chan put his phone in his little shoulder bag.

_ Wallet. Keys. _

He really didn’t have much in terms of formal clothing, so he hoped his tweed jacket would be enough to make him look like he belonged there. 

He left a minute early.

The restaurant wasn’t much of a walk from the subway station, so Chan arrived with time to spare. Ten minutes, to be precise. Now he had to find a way to wait outside without looking awkward. Lots of business people walked by. It was twenty minutes past six, and he was in the financial district. Well, the shopping area of the financial district, but people had to walk past to get home from work anyway. Felix said he would be driving, so he didn’t want to text him. Was he even waiting in the right place? He looked up at the building’s facade. The restaurant was supposedly on the top floor. He looked down at the address Felix sent him. Yeah, he was in the right place. But the parking was behind it. Wouldn’t it make more sense to wait for Felix there? Wait, no, the parking entrance is behind the building, but the parking is indoors. Felix would get out of his car, and then take the elevator to the restaurant. Hold on, shouldn’t he go in and wait for him on the top floor, then?

Chan turned on his phone again, and scrolled to where Felix told him where to wait. Right, he was supposed to meet him on the top floor. But he was still seven minutes early.

_ I’ll go up at six twenty seven. Actually, no. Six twenty five. There could be a line at the lift. Or it might be really slow. I mean, it’s a tall building. It’s rush hour. Kind of. Six twenty four, but I’ll walk slowly. _

As luck would have it, just as Chan walked into the building, awkwardly greeting the doorman and being thoroughly confused by the six elevator, single control panel setup, Felix texted him.

_ [Felix ;)] _

_ Hello!!  _

_ I’m at the building, waiting for the elevator :) _

_ I’ll see you there? _

_ [Me] _

_ Yep!!! I’m waiting for the lift too :) _

Chan looked up at the display panel of the elevator he was waiting at. He wasn’t sure if it was the right one, to be honest. Its white light was on, so he stood in front of it. Everything seemed to be white or gold in this building, except for the black swirls of the marble floor. If it was imitation marble, Chan wouldn’t know. He felt far too poor to be there. The lift skipped the ground floor, and went down to the basement level. It stopped for a few seconds, then it moved back up. 

_ B2, B1, G. _

The lift dinged, its white light flashing.

With the smoothest noise Chan had ever heard an elevator produce, its doors opened, and in the pristine little box stood the prettiest boy he had ever seen. He beamed when he saw him, and Chan couldn’t help but smile back.

“Hey,” Felix giggled, closing the elevator after Chan. The golden shimmer around his eyes twinkled as he laughed. 

_ I’ve really hit the jackpot with him, haven’t I? _

Felix just didn’t look real. He had to be some sort of fairy, here to steal Chan’s name and his free will. It didn’t seem fair that someone so beautifully made, like a sculptor had spent years on him, could exist. Not to mention the fact that he was taking Chan to an expensive restaurant which he couldn’t even dream of going to normally.

When the elevator doors opened again, the restaurant’s attendant bowed deeply and welcomed them.

“Do you have a reservation?” She asked, looking between Chan and Felix. She probably didn’t know who to ask.

“Yep, for Lee? Two people, six thirty,” Felix replied. Chan had to force himself to look away. The dim bar lights at their first meeting didn’t do Felix’s beauty justice, but he would have plenty of time to stare when they were sitting across from each other.

_ Oh my god, I’m gonna be sitting across from him for an hour. _

“Six thirty… here we go. Follow me please, I’ll take you to your table.”

Chan wasn’t sure what to look at: the fancy carpet, the decorative arches, the floor to ceiling windows, or Felix. He settled on the tables and chairs around him, so he wouldn’t bump into any. The attendant sat them down at a booth next to the window. There was a lit candle and a little vase of flowers on the table.

_ Oh my god, I’m actually on a date. _

Felix smiled at him again when the attendant left.

“You look good.”

Chan could feel himself blushing already.

“Thank you. You look really good, too. Honestly, I wasn’t too sure what to wear. I’ve never really been to such a fancy place before. Thanks for doing all this, by the way.”

“It’s no problem.” Felix picked up his menu, so Chan did the same.

“I haven’t been on a date in a long, long time. And I don’t think you have either, so I thought, might as well. Business has been good these days, anyway.”

Chan hummed in response. He’d have to ask him what business he does exactly later, but for now, he was losing his mind at the price of the dishes. Who the hell would pay forty thousand won for a bowl of mushroom soup? Felix would, apparently.

“Honestly, I don’t really know what to get. This is all so… high class,” he laughed nervously. 

“Oh, don’t worry about the price. The onion soup is really good, if you want an appetizer. I’ll probably get one. It comes with garlic bread.”

“If there’s garlic bread, I’ll take it. ...What about mains?”

He wouldn’t want to order anything more expensive than what Felix is having. The menu had French names for everything, so he just looked at the pictures. Honestly, it all just looked like regular food, but put on a really big plate and with sauce dribbled artfully around it.

“I’ll probably get the fish and amandine potato. I’ve never tried saffron sauce, but everything here is good, so,” Felix shrugged.

Chan found it on the menu. A hundred and thirty thousand won. And that was one of the less expensive dishes. That didn’t leave Chan much leeway.

“Is pigeon good?” He asked.

“It’s kinda like chicken, but more flavourful. But they’re big on the sauces here, so it really depends on what sauce they use.”

Chan nodded.

“Worth a try.”

Now that they had ordered and their wine (Chan didn’t even want to think about the price of that) had been poured, Chan and Felix were on their own. 

“So,” Chan started.

“I was wondering, what kind of business do you do?”

Felix took a sip of his wine, and set it down with a knowing twinkle in his eye.

“You were wondering how I can afford this.”

“You got me,” Chan giggled nervously for the thousandth time that evening.

“Honestly, it was just luck. It’s not really fair to say that I  _ do _ business, I just happened to... inherit a number of businesses.”

“You mean, like, a family thing?”

“You could say so. Anyways, it’s far less honourable work than what you do. How have things been at the hospital, by the way? Things have calmed down, I suppose.”

“Yeah, I get a lot of elderly patients, so there’s a lot of helping them eat and talking to families.”

Chan’s eyes drifted to the rings on Felix’s hand.

_ Oh fuck, that’s hot. _

Even though his hands were small and dainty, the heavy gold rings on his fingers made him look powerful. One was some kind of signet ring, bearing an engraved compass. As if he could read Chan’s mind, Felix lifted his hand to rest his chin on. Chan’s eyes followed, until their gazes met again, and Chan couldn’t look away. 

Their soup arrived, and Felix was right. It was the best soup (and garlic bread) Chan had ever had. Felix giggled at the amazed look on Chan’s face as he forced himself to not drink everything in the bowl in one go.

“I know it’s tempting, but you have to sip it to get all the flavour.” 

Felix took bites of his garlic bread between spoonfuls of soup, so Chan did the same. The window next to them was probably meant for looking at the skyline, but Chan looked down at the street. Even though they were high up, the red and blue lights of a police car were unmistakable. Felix looked down as well, watching the car intently.

“Police aren’t usually around here. Wonder what that’s about,” Felix commented, before looking back at Chan. His eyes flitted down for half a second, and Chan shyly pulled his arms in a little.

“Anyway, I think we should make this clear now so we don’t end up on different pages later. What are you looking for in this relationship?”

“I-Uh, Oh god, this is like a job interview,” Chan stammered, staring at his soup.

“No pressure, it’s just easier if we get this out of the way now.”

Felix smiled gently, and placed a hand, the one with all the rings, onto Chan’s. He held his fingers lightly, and if Chan couldn’t think earlier, he sure as hell couldn’t now.

“I… I don’t know? I can’t say I have much dating experience,” Chan tittered.

“That’s alright, you can take your time. But I assume you kind of know how I roll, given how I approached you at the bar the other day.”

Chan remembered very well the hungry look in Felix’s eyes from across the bar. He’d hate to admit it, but part of him wanted those eyes on him again.

“I can’t see a long term thing working out too well for me, ‘cause I move around a bit. But you said you’re prone to catching feelings, yeah?”

Chan nodded, but before he could say anything, Felix pulled his hand away as their main courses arrived. He missed the contact already.

“Just have a think about it in your own time. You’re a lovely person, Chan. I’d hate for you to get your feelings hurt,” Felix said, with a seriousness Chan was seeing for the first time. After a beat, he gave him his usual smile again.

“Try your pigeon.”

Felix really was a great conversation. He seemed delighted to hear Chan talk about his love of music and where he wanted to travel, making Chan blush with all the attention he was getting. Felix himself was a little reserved in talking about his own life, but hey. From what Chan knew, business isn’t the most thrilling job to talk about. Felix did, however, notice Chan catching glimpses of his rings.

“You looking at these?” He laughed, showing them off. Three on his left hand, two on his right.

“I actually didn’t buy any of these myself. This one’s my favourite. It’s opal, my friend got it for me.”

_ Are all of his friends millionaires? _

Chan took his hand under the guise of looking closer, and he gasped. The stone looked like it held a galaxy in it.

“That’s really pretty!”

“I know, right? Gemstones are so fun.”

“What about this one?” Chan asked, pressing lightly on his ring finger, where the signet ring was.

“Oh, that’s sort of a family heirloom. But you know, if you buy any jewelry, you have to make sure they’re fair trade. The gems and precious metals trade is pretty unethical in some places.”

“I’ll keep it in mind, but I don’t think I’ll be buying jewelry any time soon. I’d have to take it off at work, anyway,” Chan laughed. He wasn’t really looking at Felix’s rings in the first place. He was discovering that he maybe had a hand kink. Just for small hands attached to powerful people, though.

When the time came to pay the bill, Chan nearly fainted at the number on the receipt, but Felix didn’t bat an eye. Chan was, however, almost sad to get in the elevator on their way down. It was nice, sitting with a pretty boy who loved to hear you talk, and you loved to talk with. Nothing could have prepared him for Felix holding his hand as they entered the lift.

“It’s pretty late, would you like a drive home?” 

“O-Oh, uh, you don’t have to, you’ve done enough for me tonight.”

There was now way Felix couldn’t tell that Chan’s brain fried every time he touched him.

“It’s really no big deal, I like driving. And you.”

If Chan could keyboard smash verbally, he would.

And so, he ended up in Felix’s car. It was surprisingly normal. Higher end, but normal.

“Hey, Felix?”

“Hm?” 

There weren’t many cars on the road, so the drive back was kind of nice. Atmospheric. 

“Thanks for everything today. I had a really nice time.”

Felix smiled, but he kept his eyes on the road.

“Thank you for your company. I’d love to go out with you again, even if we don’t really work as, like, a thing. You’re fun to hang out with! And it’s cute how you blush all the time.”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice,” Chan moaned, burying his face in his hands. If his skin was heating up again, that was no one’s business.

“I’ve gotta be observant in my line of work.” Felix laughed.

When Felix took his hand again at a red light, there was no doubt about it: he was trying to kill Chan.

He slowed down as they turned onto Chan’s block.

“Where should I let you off?”

“Just by the side of the road there is fine, next to the sign.”

Felix did as he was instructed, but instead of leaving the car running so he could go his own way quickly, he parked and turned towards Chan.

“So, have a think about what you want this to be, yeah? You can text me if you figure anything out.”

“Okay.”

“And, I really meant it when I said I’d love to meet you again, even if it’s just as friends. It doesn’t have to be fancy or anything. Only if you want to though.”

“Of course I want to, but, you’re right. I should probably sort out what I want from this first.” He gave Felix’s hand a gentle squeeze. It was a little uncomfortable with all his rings in the way, but Chan could live with that. He was happy to.

“Great!”

Chan could talk about Felix’s smile for hours, and he was reminded of that every time he saw it. He wanted to learn that smile, every little bend and crease, whether it was joy or contentment, he wanted to watch it reach his eyes. He wanted to be the reason behind it.

His hand slipped out of Felix’s far too quickly, and his car door unlocked.

“Have a good night, Chan.”

“You too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> are they gonna be boyfriends??? find out next time on keeping up with the crime syndicate. also if i have to have arrival time anxiety, so does chan lmao  
> i kinda wanna give jisung and changbin their own spinoffs but like. i cant start a new series when im only like 10% done with this one ksjdfkjdsfds  
> i hope i have made everyone sufficiently interested in other character's backstories though.i lOVE worldbuilding. i LOVE it.


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